Coda You gotta be ready
by noo
Summary: Ianto gets some firearms training. A/N: I did always wonder what happened between Day One and Cyberwoman when Ianto gained a gun up in the tourist office. This is my take on what happened.


Gwen had been with Torchwood for precisely three days when Jack called Ianto into his office one night.

Ianto had been walking to the autopsy bay, head down and lost in his own mind, when Jack looked up from the paper work on his desk and spotted him.

"Ianto, come in here," Jack called.

Ianto stopped in his path and turned to walk back to Jack's office. He stopped in the doorway to the office, trying not to notice the peeling green paint. His hands had been itching to scratch that paint off the old doors since he had started working here. Jack was scribbling onto the paperwork in front of him. Ianto tried not to wince at what he knew was quite likely a reply that would need his own special touch before being sent. He stood there and waited patiently for Jack to acknowledge his presence.

"I've been thinking, Ianto," Jack said as he looked up. There was a pause as Jack appeared to consider exactly how to word these apparent thoughts.

"That can be a dangerous pastime, sir," Ianto responded into the space left by Jack.

"Ah, yes never let it be said that Torchwood runs towards danger with arms wide open!" Jack smiled at him.

Ianto thought of many responses to that one, not the least that the man seated in front of him and leaning back on his chair at a dangerous angle seemed to have that previous statement as his own personal motto. Running towards danger indeed, and often with the widest grin on his face while doing so.

Jack slapped his hands on his desk and stood. "Right, shooting range! You and me. Now."

Ianto couldn't quite hide the brief flare of shock in his eyes, before his implacable mask slid back into place once more.

"Shooting range," Ianto stated. His inflection made it clear that it wasn't a question but just a statement of curiosity.

Jack had rounded his desk to stand directly in front of Ianto, taking that one step a little too close into Ianto's personal space.

Ianto tried to control his breathing as the intoxicating smell of the other man wrapped around him.

"If you are going to be an effective guard dog I think you might need the appropriate weapon," Jack told him.

Ianto nodded and stepped away from Jack, tearing his gaze away from the small hollow at the base of Jack's throat and briskly walking towards the entrance to the lower levels.

--

Ianto entered the shooting range, trying to walk calmly and not as if the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels.

He paused just inside the door, unsure of exactly what Jack had planned and then rethought his strategy and moved further into the room and away from the entrance. He knew that Jack would suddenly appear, taking up all the space around himself with that larger than life presence. The man certainly knew how to enter a room and seemed very fond of stepping into Ianto's personal space.

Sure enough, Ianto felt Jack bound into the room behind him, pause and then move off towards where the weapons were stored.

"We need you to have a weapon up in the tourist office," Jack started conversationally.

Ianto turned back to watch Jack as he moved back and forth between the table and the weapons storage.

"Seems a valid idea," Ianto agreed.

Jack stopped by the table, placed both hands on the edge and lent towards Ianto. His eyes holding Ianto's gaze for the first time since they had started talking this night.

"Well Jones, Ianto Jones, junior researcher for Torchwood London. Did they show you any interesting tricks there?" Jack asked him quietly.

"You know London, sir. Need to know basics only and why would a junior researcher need a gun?" Ianto maintained his stiff posture, but slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Well then the basics it is."

Jack started with the outside guns, naming them all as he worked his way inwards.

Ianto watched Jack's long fingers as he pointed to each weapon in turn, nodding understanding. As Jack pointed at a Berretta but before he could name it, Ianto beat him to it.

Jack looked up in surprise as Ianto shrugged, "I do read, sir," he told him.

"Read?" Jack responded.

Jack had that body posture position that said he was pondering something in the Universe he hadn't quite managed to understand. That little look out of the corner of his eye, head turned slightly to the side as he looked at Ianto.

Ianto made sure that his focus remained on the guns on the table in front of them.

"It can be a remarkably informative occupation," Ianto dryly responded.

"Nothing can quite beat the actual experience, Ianto." Jack murmured.

"There are some things that I do not wish to experience!" Ianto turned to look down towards the targets laid out, weevils in all their glory on paper.

He knew well the dirt and cold of those three tunnels behind the targets, as it was one of his jobs to replace said targets. It was also a space he had explored and dismissed for her early in his start here.

"Hello? Ianto? Interested in coming back here?" Jack said from behind him.

Ianto turned back to the table and looked back down again at the array of weaponry. "Sorry, sir. Wool-gathering."

Ianto could feel Jack's smirk. "You do make it easy sometimes."

"I got the impression that you like my easiness, sir," Ianto could not help flirting back at Jack. Ianto reached forward to pick up the standard gun that Tosh and Owen carried.

Jack reached forward and grasped his hand and directed it instead towards slightly smaller version next to it.

"Baby steps, Ianto. So we will start with a basic Colt MK1911." Jack lowered Ianto's hand to the gun. He moved his own hand away and straightened up, allowing Ianto to pick up the weapon himself.

Ianto could feel Jack watching his every move, appraising his skill and knowledge. Ianto was aware of the guns that Torchwood operatives used but they made him tense. He wanted this lesson over as soon as possible, and so he made a mental note to himself that to work as hard as possible so that it would be over quickly.

He mimicked the stance that he had seen Tosh and Owen use. One hand cupping the bottom of the hilt and the other wrapped around the hilt with thumb and forefinger placed along side the barrel.

He made sure that the gun was angled away from Jack. Once he was satisfied with the grip as he remembered seeing it, he looked at Jack, silently asking if he was correct.

Jack smiled at him and nodded. "Now for some ammunition," Jack winked at him.

Jack picked up the clip that had been next to the MK1911. He showed the bullets within the clip to Ianto as he moved around the table.

Ianto lowered his gun as Jack walked around the table towards him. He knew the gun wasn't loaded but he wasn't taking any chances.

"Gun, Ianto." Jack said. "Grip first."

Ianto obeyed, twisting the gun in his hand to present it grip first to Jack.

Jack showed him how to load the magazine and how to release it. He then handed it over to Ianto to do himself.

Jack made Ianto redo it three times before he seemed satisfied.

Jack then told him where the safety release was and made him practice releasing it four times, without the magazine in place.

Ianto was then instructed to place the gun back on the table.

Jack turned and walked back towards the cabinets. Ianto waited patiently, taking the time to allow his eyes to roam over Jack's form.

He schooled his features into one of blandness as Jack walked back to him, holding two pairs of the yellow safety glasses and head sets.

Jack held them up in the air to dangle from his finger tips in front of Ianto. "I strongly suspect that even you can make these look good."

"And here I was earlier today telling the drycleaner that I wasn't only hired for my looks," Ianto smiled at him.

"Oh those are a definite plus," Jack said as he took the opportunity to slowly look Ianto up and down.

Ianto focused on willing his blood to stop rushing to a certain area of his anatomy. To hide his distraction he reached out and removed a set of the glasses and headset and proceeded to put them on, ignoring Jack's blatant perusal. Once on he reached back for the gun.

"Ready, sir," he told Jack, his voice echoing through the ear muffs of the headset, abnormally loud even to his own ears.

Jack directed him to move forward to the yellow line that was painted on the ground. Ianto selected the closest looking target to stand in front of.

"Not so loud Ianto, even though I do so adore that accent of yours," Jack told him, his voice pitched at the right level so it seeped into his ears. "Feet shoulder width apart and slowly bring the gun up."

Ianto obeyed Jack's instructions, focussing on each and trying to do them to the best of his ability.

"Good, now lower and do it again, a little faster this time," Jack told him.

Jack had moved to stand behind Ianto to better observe his movements. Ianto could feel those blue eyes focusing solely on him. It was a feeling that Ianto normally tried to ensure didn't happen.

"Again," Jack told him.

As Ianto brought the gun up again for the third time, Jack stepped straight flush against him, shoulder to hip he felt all of Jack.

"Distraction, sir," he murmured around his suddenly dry throat.

"Hmm?" Jack's voice reverberated in his ear through the speaker.

Ianto could feel his breath as Jack spoke flow onto his neck, causing his skin to tingle.

"You are trying to use your manly wiles to distract me, so that I miss the target," Ianto said as he stared straight down the tunnel.

"Oh, manly wiles. I like that!" Ianto felt Jack's lips get as close as possible to his neck without actually touching.

"If you persist in the southern belle act sir, I shall have to pop upstairs to get the smelling salts in readiness." Ianto swallowed his nervousness, concentrating on the target ahead.

The only clue Ianto was giving away was the minute shaking of the gun and a slight tenseness in his left shoulder.

"Always wanting to be prepared, hmm? Fire when ready, Ianto," Jack ordered.

Ianto concentrated as hard as he could on the target ahead, on breathing in and then squeezing the trigger on his out breath. He steadfastly attempted to ignore Jack's hand burning through his trousers on his left hip and Jack's other hand lying along his right arm.

The recoil was a shock to Ianto, forcing his right shoulder back into Jack's chest. He had partly braced, suspecting it was coming but the actual physical motion was still a surprise.

He stood motionless, his arm still raised as he watched the hole that he made in the target flutter slightly from a breeze from the tunnel. He refused to try and contemplate the man standing behind flush up against him. Jack in all his glory.

"Not bad Ianto, not bad," Jack said as he stepped back and released his hold on Ianto. "Fire again, you need to practice with that gun until I am happy."

"If I am only using this gun sir, then why are all the rest laid out?" Ianto couldn't help but ask. Intrigued by what the answer would reveal of his erstwhile Captain.

"Ah, Ianto, that one is for you to play with, the rest are for me!" Jack stood with his hands on his hips, rocking backwards on his heels in those large Cat boots that he favoured.

"A little greedy, I would have thought, sir?" Ianto smiled back at him, gun resting along his thigh in his hand. Appearing relaxed for once in presence of the weapon.

Jack stepped forward into Ianto's personal space, just like he had in his office earlier.

"I take what I can get," Jack's words a caress across his face.

"Yep, greedy!" Ianto agreed as he turned back to the target and raised his arms up again. Sighting along his arm, he fired in time with a burst of laughter from Jack.

"Watch you left shoulder, you tense it before you fire," Jack commented, as Ianto continued to fire at the target.

Ianto became aware of Jack standing to the side and firing from one of the other guns from the table. Jack had selected an automatic weapon, so although Ianto was vaguely aware of the firing from the sounds permeating through the earpieces, it was the recoil that was giving away that Jack had a more powerful weapon in his hands.

Ianto's magazine ran out and Ianto lowered the gun to stand and watch Jack firing.

Jack finally lowered his own weapon and turned to grin at Ianto.

"Right, time for your favourite part, Ianto," he told him, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Ianto stood and waited for Jack to reveal what he thought Ianto would enjoy.

"Cleaning!" Jack announced.

Ianto couldn't help but crack a smile at Jack's infectious announcement. He shook his head and headed back to the table. Placing the gun back into the spot where it had originally lain.

Jack, meanwhile, had moved off to collect the cleaning kit from the storage area along the back wall. He returned to the table, but looked a little perturbed to realize that there was limited space available.

Ianto took pity on Jack and picked up a number of unused weapons from the table to clear a space for the kit. He walked back to the storage area and started replacing the weapons back into their respective places.

He took the opportunity to remove his glasses and headset. Ruffling his hair back into place and pinching the skin on the bridge of his nose to try and remove what he just knew would be red marks.

Ianto returned to the table to see that Jack had also removed his glasses and head set. Jack's hair had sprung back into its near perfect coiffure unlike Ianto's own hair. But He was pleased to note the marks on Jack's skin from the glasses. Ianto treasured anything that made Jack appear more human and less god-like.

Jack proceeded to show him how to disassemble and clean the weapon. As before, Jack made Ianto repeat it a total of three times until he was satisfied..

Jack nodded his approval on Ianto's final ministrations with the weapon.

"From now on, weekly training sessions in here like the others," he told him.

"Yes, sir. I need to retrieve the Bekaran scanner from the autopsy bay and return it to the Archives before I leave for the night," Ianto told him as he walked back to the storage area to put the MK1911 away.

"Sure, I'll stay down here a bit longer, although you have taken away what I really wanted to play with," Jack pouted at him.

"I'm sure you can find something else suitable to attract your attention, sir," Ianto said as he gestured at the multitude of weapons still on the table. Carefully ignoring the man who was casually leaning against it with his hands in his pockets and feet crossed nonchalantly.

"Are you calling me fickle, Ianto?" Jack asked him with a slight note of challenge to his voice.

"Not fickle per se, just more able to take advantage of what is available in front of you without disappointment," Ianto advised him before turning and walking out of the shooting range and away from the man who disturbed him beyond measure.

Off to hide in the lower levels and check on his love.


End file.
